The Woodshed Mystery (1962)

One of the better mysteries in this wonderful children's series. All the familiar faces are back as everyone gathers together at the Aldens. For the first time the children do not go on a vacation for the summer, breaking the mold of all the previous books. Aunt Jane moves back to their part of the country, moving into the old family home. Even though the mystery is easily solved by an adult, for the first time in this series a genuine mystery with clues and ties to the past, including the Revolutionary War bring about an exciting story making this one of the finer stories in the collection. At this point Henry is in college, Jessie a high school senior and Violet is ready to start high school after this summer so the dynamics of the children are changing too with Benny still being the only little one left. Most of the minor characters are collected here but with the marriage of one, there is also the mention that some will be leaving and I'm thinking may be departing from the series at this time, while the marriage adds a new character who could easily fill the role played by the departing characters: adventure supervisor, adult companion etc. Since I'm reading Warner's 19, I'm appreciating the flow of the basic plot continuity of reading them in numerical order as well. ( )

Help the Alden children discover a Revolutionary War secret in the old woodshed behind the house.

I stopped reading the Boxcar Children series after about the 90th book... it was just a bit much. But especially the first ten or twenty were absolutely fantastic. ( )